


#Renew Sense8: A fan Response to Netflix (Part 1 of 2)

by mantra4ia



Category: Sense8 (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-30
Updated: 2017-06-30
Packaged: 2018-11-13 02:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11174712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mantra4ia/pseuds/mantra4ia
Summary: This was the letter I sent to Netflix on June 16th. I wanted to share it now that the show has been renewed for a 2-hour finale.I am glad, but at the same time I do want more.So I am writing a follow up letter.





	#Renew Sense8: A fan Response to Netflix (Part 1 of 2)

Netflix Inc.

100 Winchester Circle

Los Gatos, CA

 

Subject: A response to Neflix or BPO, whatever you call yourself today

 

To Reed Hastings, CEO of Netflix Inc, and

Cindy Holland, Vice President of Original Content;

 My name is Veronica. My family and I have been members and fans of Netflix since 2015 when we heard of a show that was about to premiere. Stop me if you've heard this one but it's called Sense8. We stayed with your service not simply because Sense8 _blew us out of the water from concept to execution_ , but because that content seemed so in tune with your company's message and core values. No longer. Upon hearing of the cancellation of Sense8 on June 1st 2017, we immediately called Netflix customer service as part of the global protest to renew Sense8. Despite being assured that there had been a high volume of calls in support of the show, I feel compelled to reiterate my message on the merits of Sense8 and why it's so important to the times that its renewal is imperative.

 This show is 100% relevant and necessary to our time. I live in a country where our President so feeds the fervor of ethnocentrism under the indulgent euphemism of America Pride that instead of examining complex infrastructure faults in our immigration system and adjusting to keep up with the volume of moving people across the world, we propose a one-and-done wall while all across the globe people our responding in the same way Capheus did: Bridges Not Walls. “Love is a bridge, not a wall if we let it be.” We propel the idea of 'us' and 'other ' as a choice to focus on our differences until we are frenzied. Sense8 does an incredible job portraying this by showing how hunted the cluster is. When we're are the best versions of ourselves we celebrate uniqueness with pride, as Sense8 shows. But when we're feeling particularly callous and petty you need only look so far the views of our Vice President, who believes that the LGBTQ+ spectrum can be treated like a chronic illness. It's then, when we allow ourselves to be truly divisive, that we seek out our differences and call them 'outliers,' 'aberrations,' and 'abominations.' Sense8 confronts this ludicrous dichotomy, in a time of being very fearful and critical of “everyone else,” in the strongest terms: we should devote greater attention to the attributes and the challenges that unite us. Kala says it clearly. “It is the 21st century people. Get. Over. It.” Once again this show is relevant and necessary to it's time: what millions of people across the world want, and what we all need at a time it matters most.

Sense8 is also a leader in content due to the fact that it is 110% ahead of it's time. It shows us hope of “a future that doesn't look exactly like our past” through themes of global awareness, worldwide strangers looking out for one another, and a sense of a community of humans that transcends man made borders, ideas of race, and ideology. Its long overdue we talk about this and other things the show speaks to: relationship equality, not just in general terms but by showing the actual day to day interaction of character relationships (ex: a lesbian couple at pride, two men kissing on the beach, where else will we get “from queer to eternity” on TV?); the subsequent struggles and prejudice same sex couples face; women’s incarceration; gender inequity in public, global politics and poverty; worldwide cultures different to our own (where do we get shows like that on TV in the USA that give us perspective on how we fit into the globe if not for Sense8); and it introduces character stereotypes in the core 8 characters into order to promptly shatter them with heart, humor, and a plot so unique that we forget _why stereotypes were ever important_. Sense8's diversity in its cast, cultural background, sexual orientation, etc, is something that broadcast and network television are, to this day, struggling to catch up to when they make art representative of our lives. As Netflix, a service which laurels 'knowing what the customers want before they do' you should be embracing the lead that Sense8 gives you and pressing it to set the bar pressuring others to chase the mark. Sense8 doesn’t whitewash, or pull punches, and it recognizes the importance of genuine representation. That's positively significant to me as a viewer when I see a clever, witty, trans character is actually being portrayed by a great actress, the magnanimous Jamie Clayton, who is a transgender woman. She informs the role in a way you'd be hard-pressed to find elsewhere, and it impressed me as a viewer that Netflix backed a property that recognizes the importance of authenticity, making real challenging topics into art, so that people can talk about them in an entertainment forum, perhaps one of the only forums left today where people lower their guard and ideas can change.

Sense8 does all this heavy lifting and it doesn't sacrifice great storytelling to do so. All of that hard work makes this incredible, fantastical sci-fi story more potent, more premium in quality. If anything it invests me deeper into the lives of these characters. This is not a property that you watch passively. It lends itself to the true “Netflix Binge;” when you are in you're all in, you watch and share and engage with the community of fans unlike any other. All of this is why Sense8 and it's renewal for season 3 matters to me.

  _Here's why the saving the cluster should matter just as much if not more to you at Netflix._

 I've read several articles epousing what Netflix holds in high regard: creativity, intelligence, honesty, communication, and passion. Because this shines through not merely in easy words but in content, we in my family believe(d) in and support(ed) Netflix as our our exclusive streaming provider and nearly exclusively for ALL the content we watch. With rare exception my family doesn’t watch broadcast or network TV because we don’t support the growing habit of networks to be ‘ruthlessly trendy,’ quick to make-and-yank shows as the winds of popularity turn, without proper promotion or support of their writers, cast and crew (ABC Forever, NBC Emerald City, etc). I admired Netflix because until recently I trusted that you didn't ascribe to those practices. You don’t hang shows out to dry, you don’t go with what’s trendy; you go with what’s well written and executed with passion and you let it speak for itself. Boy did you fool me.

 Netflix, I trusted you with Sense8, for me it was your flagship. You gave it home and allowed it confront norms, be new, and exciting, and truly cinematic. Each episode is as intricate and detailed as a feature film. It is a true rarity. Through Sense8, through the palpable passion of everyone involved in the project, through their heartwarming engagement with the community of fans, I came to love the depth of Netflix's creativity, intelligence, and passion. That's what got me into Medici: Masters of Florence, the fourth season of the Killing, The Crown, Knights of Sidonia, and so much more. Through those works I bought into the “Netflix culture” of providing a space to make shows and movies that wouldn't otherwise get made, a landmark of hope that once in a while gives second life to the shows that earn it with great characters (some of my favorites being Gilmore Girls, Longmire, The Killing). I trusted in Netflix as a portal for storytellers to the content they want to create, a portal for that content to the world, and a refuge for the weary, discarded characters yearning to finish telling great stories.

  _And then collectively you decided to cancel Sense8._

 In the words of Will Gorski “You f-d up.” If that wasn't bad enough, you cancelled Sense8 on a cliffhanger, which flies in the face of your values to great storytelling. If that wasn't enough, the cancellation was announced on the first day of Pride Month, even after Cindy Holland bolstered “[There] Never has there been a more truly global show…which is only mirrored by the connected community of deeply passionate fans all around the world.” Holland has also been a spokesperson to Variety covering Netflix 'commitment to diversity.' This cancellation essentially turns the credibility of those words from your company to smoke, mirrors and ash. If that wasn't enough, you host a "Rebels and Rule Breakers Luncheon" for the influential women of the industry, yet you ax Sense8 with some of the most powerful female characters, influential actors, and creators I've seen. If that wasn't enough, Reed Hastings has been cited as saying “…we have to take more risks, you have to try more crazy things,” “we should have a higher cancel rate overall.” No, a higher cancellation rate on its own doesn't set Netflix apart as a risk-taking maverick. It makes you just like everyone else. If you wanted to be bold, why cancel the show that arguably takes the most risks by combining characters, high action and representation! It only goes to show me as a viewer that you are out of touch with your own strengthen as a company. If that wasn't enough at the very least you've proven not to know what your membership wants because the backlash over the cancellation of this show is global, which calls into question whether you are forward-thinking leaders. And if-that-wasn't-are-you-kidding-me-right-now-bad-enough (no, I'm not kidding), you post the following message as an official response to the fans that have taken the time to give you feedback:

>  “We’ve seen the petitions. We’ve read the messages. We know you want to #RenewSense8, and we wish we could #BringBackSense8 for you. The reason we’ve taken so long to get back to you is because we’ve thought long and hard here at Netflix to try to make it work but unfortunately we can’t.
> 
> Thank you for watching and hope you’ll stay close with your cluster around the world.
> 
> #SensatesForever”

 What a lackluster way to address such a large and passionate group, not simply in it's brevity but it's lack of transparency. It speaks volumes on how little value you have for the human component that makes Netflix work. By comparison to the outpouring of the cast, crew, and producers sharing their pride in our efforts to renew the series, their similar grief, and their future aspirations for what the show might have been, your statement is cold, dead and callous. It provides no reasoning for your trigger fingers, shows no process of evaluation for viewer concern, and does nothing toward a fitting and just conclusion to wonderful characters in a bar raising story.

  _Here's how we, as fans, see actual comprehensive solutions to suspected challenges that Sense8 presents._ We’ve heard from several cast on social media and reporting outlets that cost vs viewership was the main factor in the Sense8 cancellation. Since Netflix has done nothing to shed light on the decision process leading into the cancellation, I take this at face value to be true. If Netflix truly realized the value of this show and its audience, then it should rework budget and cost cutting solutions as opposed to the ill-thought-out kill shot. This series in on par with the scope of “Game of Thrones,” so it deserves a certain level of discretionary spending based on a one-of-a-kind vision. But to play along with cutting back, Sense8 has accomplished their world building in seasons 1 and 2. Therefore season 3 could realistically take place in fewer settings as opposed to eight, since many of the central characters have now congregated. As long as a strong character driven story and a certain shooting style remains, travel could reduced without comprising integrity. Would I miss the world view? Yes. Could we still make a great Sense8? Yes, because at the heart this show is about Lito, Sun, Wolfgang, Kala, Will, Riley, Nomi, Capheus, and the gang. If they are well-written, viewers will still watch because we love every single one of them, which is testimony that few shows can claim. Fans come for the imagery, they stay for the characters. Other rational alternatives to the ax could include cutting back the number of episodes per season, from 12 to 6 or even 4 as other cinematic quality show (ex: Sherlock) have done. Alternatively, you could emulate the fee structure of other streaming service with an additional fee for viewers who choose to watch original content like Sense8. There are a host of creative ways to balance revenue and expenditure. _Worst case scenario part 1: if you still come to the conclusion that you have to cancel the series, give it a third season (not simply a cliffhanger or one-off episode) to properly conclude a great story!_ Worst case scenario part 2: give fans a global panel tour to send off their favorite cast of characters one last time. Worst case scenario part 3: if Netflix can't give a future to this property, then give the Wachowski sisters production and distribution rights to future installments of the series, so that it can conclude in a satisfactory way off your platform.

There's one last viewership question, which comes at you in two parts, that I wonder whether Netflix has bothered to ask or develop an algorithm for: how many viewers of Sense8 naturally gravitate toward and boost your views other original content, and how many of those Sense8 viewers are you willing to lose, adversely affecting your other properties? Because I'll be honest, I love Medici and other titles that you are making future seasons for, but after you announced the cancellation of Sense8 my mentality shifted. I used to think “I hope Netflix picks up ___ show” but for the first time I caught myself thinking “I hope Hulu picks up the rights to this Netflix show and others” because I don't trust Netflix not to be equally mercurial with other titles at the members' expense. I'm paying the same amount for less of the content I enjoy.

If fan outpouring doesn't appeal to you and viewership grabs your attention, perhaps a drop in membership and it's consequential impact on other original series finally will put the cost of your choice into perspective. Sense8's premature and untimely cancellation, coupled with your response to fans has prompted me to cancel my subscription. Until such time that you renew or release the show, I’ll enjoy giving my business to Hulu, and whats-more I'll be donating what I would normally give to Netflix toward that global causes Sense8 highlights in order to continue some #Sense8ionalGood. _However_ , I would like to bookend my concerns with a separate Netflix issue: CEO Reed Hastings softened stance supporting net neutrality (theverge.com) which I read while typing this letter. I tie this quote into my #RenewSense8 displeasure because it speaks further injury to the aforementioned Netflix culture: “Where net neutrality is really important is the Netflix of 10 years ago… It’s not narrowly important to us because we’re big enough to get the deals we want. Netflix isn’t worried about its ability to survive…[net neutrality is] not our primary battle at this point…we don’t have a special vulnerability to it.” I need only say this, I hope it resonates with you since it's from one of your own productions: “Beware. It is difficult to scale the heights of power, the fall is swift and easy.” This is particularly true when you undervalue and underestimate the tenacity of fans who support you.

 

Sincerely,

~[Insert name]

Subscriber May 2015 – June 2017

 

PS: I wouldn't count Sense8 fans out just yet if I were anyone who was anyone at Netflix. After all, August 8th is just around the corner. Maybe you can find Lito's matching flip flop to the one enclosed by then.

 


End file.
